President arrives in Switzerland on state visit

Geneva: President Pratibha Patil arrived here today on a state visit to Switzerland during which she will hold bilateral talks with the Swiss leadership on a range of issues including on the black money stashed in Swiss banks.

President Patil was received at the Geneva International Airport by President Geneva Canton Mark Muller, Deputy Chief of Protocol of Swiss Government Nathelie Marty.

Patil would be in Switzerland till October 4 and then will travel to Austria for a state visit from October 4 to 7.

Her first official event here would be a visit to European Organisation for Nuclear Research, commonly known as CERN, tomorrow morning. The facility is one of the most important areas of research in particle physics.

In Berne, the President will hold official talks with the President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey, and other members of the Federal Council.

The President is accompanied by a 45-member business delegation led by former FICCI President and Chairman of Modi Enterprises K K Modi, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla, Members of Parliament Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, and Chinta Mohan.

During the trip, some agreements are also likely to be signed.

The President will also unveil a bust of Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne on October 4.

An MoU is expected to be signed between the University and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on setting up of Chair on Indian Studies.